The tale of two babies, in two different hospitals, in two different states. Part 2.

The flight was quick, the nurses were friendly and Ellie did great. We got to the hospital around 11 pm; I got to wait in the waiting room while they got her all transferred over. At around 1 am they finally let me in to see her. The hospital has what they call family rooms. It consists of a couch bed, a T.V., a table and bathroom; thankfully they let me stay there for the night.

When they told me Ellie needed surgery I assumed it would be right away. I was wrong. They wanted her to grow a bit, which is fine. I wouldn’t want to do surgery on a 2lb baby. The tricky part is her heart. When a baby is in the womb, there is a valve that branches off the aorta that goes to the lungs. After a baby is born that valve closes. Well with the coarctation in Ellie’s aorta, which means a narrowing, they opened that valve back up with a drug call prostaglandin to help relieve the pressure in her aorta. The prostaglandin makes you feel like you have the flu, and because she has a heart condition they can’t feed her very much, so getting her to gain weight was a slow process. Poor girl.

That first day being in Salt Lake was a long one. Thankfully I have a great friend, Dawna, who came to visit me while I waited for my parents to arrive. Being alone in a strange hospital with a sick baby is terrible. I am so grateful for my friend and my parents and my awesome brother and sister in-law for coming and being with me while my husband was in Idaho with Jack. My parents made it around 2pm. I couldn’t have been happier to see them.

I introduced them to Ellie; it was my dad’s first time seeing her. She already has him wrapped around her finger. Since I didn’t know I was flying with Ellie, I had only the clothes on my back and the toothbrush and phone charger Kevin and I got before I had to leave. So thankfully my parents and Dawna took me shopping. Bless Dawna’s heart she bought me a new outfit and outfits for the babies. She really is the greatest friend a girl could ask for. We went to stay with my cousin Nicky that night and my brother and his wife came from Rexburg and brought me clothes and such from home.

We spent time at the hospital with Ellie, did a little shopping and did the tourist thing. Sunday came and as much as I hated to leave, I had no clothes left and I missed my husband and Jack, and as far as I knew Ellie was not having surgery for a while.  We also needed to get packed and moved out of our apartment. What a whirlwind.

The tale of two babies in two different hospitals in two different states. Part 1.

To say that the last 6 weeks has been a whirlwind would be an understatement. Never in my pregnancy would I have thought these babies would come so early. But they did and they have changed our lives forever.

April 7 is the day my life changed. I became a mom. Something I have dreamed about since I was a little girl. I have always wanted a family and sometimes worried I wouldn’t have children of my own. Not that I ever had problems, I was just a silly girl. When we found out I was pregnant, I thought, what did I get myself into, it didn’t help when I found out it was twins.

Don’t get me wrong, I was thrilled! But there was definitely fear and anxiety in the mix. Any twin pregnancy is considered “high risk”; higher risk for gestational diabetes, premature birth, preterm labor, miscarriage, bed rest, all sorts of things. I knew all these things and yet I thought I was invincible. I literally had the easiest pregnancy on Earth. Maybe 3 days of morning sickness, two stretch marks, no bed rest, no swollen ankles, perfect weight gain, I worked up until I delivered. So never in my wildest pregnancy dreams (and believe me they were wild) did I think I would have my twins 12 weeks early. But when do things go according to plan?

Even my labor was easy, delivery too. No, epidural, even though I requested one. I dilated so quickly there wasn’t time. My labor time was about 6 hours and one of that was pushing. I was discharged 12 hours after delivering twins. Recovery was a breeze, but life after pregnancy has been far from easy.

From the moment she was born my sweet Ellie struggled. She took her first breath with the assistance of the ventilator. In the craziness of delivery I didn’t realize anything was wrong with Ellie until I saw Jack. He came out screaming and looking around, that’s when I knew something was wrong with Ellie. 

 Jack (top) and Ellie (bottom) just after birth.

12 hours after birth my babies had already changed so much. They looked so perfect, like any normal baby just miniaturized. They both had beautiful hair, long fingers and long fit. They were perfect. Both needed the assistance of a machine they called Bubble CPAP. It helped them to keep their oxygen levels up and to remember to breath.

 Ellie (top) and Jack (bottom) 12 hours after birth.

The first 3 days were a breeze. They had their ups and downs but I thought we can do this, just a couple months, no big deal. Boy, did I stick my foot in my mouth. 4 days after birth, the nurse found a slight murmur in Ellie’s heartbeat. So, they decided to do an ultrasound. Of course we were assured its probably nothing but we want to make sure. The moment I saw the hospitals number on my caller ID, I knew it was something big. The doctor explained that she had a coarctation of the aorta and that she would be life flighted to Primary Childrens Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah where should would need surgery to correct it, and  I needed to come in at 8 to sign the release papers.

My mind started racing and my heart broke. How could my perfect baby need heart surgery? What if she doesn’t make it through surgery? What problems will she have later on? How could this happen to me? I told Kevin and tried to keep my composure. I called my mom and told her the news and broke down. How could they separate my babies? How am I supposed to be with them if they are in separate states? What should my next step be, stay with Jack or go be with Ellie is Salt Lake. I was so torn. My dad called me and said, We will come get you and take you to stay with Ellie.

We got to the hospital to sign the papers and they asked me if I was going to fly with her. I didn’t even know that was an option. I said of course and Kevin and I rushed to the store to pick up a few essentials for me to make it through the weekend. I was going with Ellie, Kevin was staying with Jack and my parents would come to Salt Lake in the morning to keep me company.